Tomonoriโs new single โLanternโ arrives as a vivid, genre-surfing spark from his upcoming sophomore album Hypernonchalant, veering straight into the philosophical tide that has become his signature.
The Japanese-Irish artist treats music as a vehicle for existential exploration, merging Afropop brightness, indie pop buoyancy, and electronic shimmer into something that feels playful on the surface but quietly probing underneath. Co-produced with platinum-selling French producer YDTHXGRT, โLanternโ keeps glowing long after it fades out.
Right from the jump, the song surrounds you with warm, immersive swirls, like standing inside a soft ocean current. Rumbling, rhythmic taps pulse and give the track an earthy and dreamy heartbeat. Then Tomonoriโs deep, grainy voice enters, grounded and gripping, singing with a catchy, mellow confidence that anchors the whole haze. He is calm, but thereโs this alertness like he is wandering through a dream they know isnโt entirely safe.
So when you listen to โLanternโ closely, it reads like a surreal diary entry written underwater. Images flicker in and out, with pink noise moving in slow motion, sand brushing the toes subconsciously, dead flakes drifting overhead like snow. Through the images, you can touch the dread running through the lines, the sense of sinking into a familiar darkness. Contrary to this feeling, the chorus flips the feeling: โLight as a lantern / With all spontaneity.โ He sings it like a release, a moment where hyper-vigilance becomes illumination rather than paralysis.
As the song progresses, the groove grows subtly fuller. The tapping beats lock into a hypnotic pattern, the synths breathe in and out like tides, and Tomonori dances vocally around them lightly. His words drift between vulnerability and detachment, reflecting that modern tension, wanting to be present while wrestling with the heaviness you carry.
By the time โLanternโ reaches its final refrain, the track has taken on a meditative glow. It feels like a descent and a rising at once, because even in the pitch-dark corners of the psyche, there are small sparks worth following. Tomonori turns that idea into warm, strange, and stunning sound.
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Review by: Naomi Joan